Numerous situations exist in which a body cavity needs to be catheterized to achieve a desired medical goal. One relatively common situation is to provide nutritional solutions or medicines directly into the stomach or intestines. A stoma is formed in the stomach or intestinal wall and a catheter is placed through the stoma. This surgical opening and/or the procedure to create the opening is commonly referred to as “gastrostomy”. Feeding solutions can be injected through the catheter to provide nutrients directly to the stomach or intestines (known as enteral feeding). A variety of different catheters intended for enteral feeding have been developed over the years, including some having a “low profile” relative to the portion of the catheter which sits on a patient's skin, as well as those having the more traditional or non-low profile configuration. These percutaneous transconduit catheters (sometimes referred to as “percutaneous transconduit tubes”) are frequently referred to as “gastrostomy catheters”, “percutaneous gastrostomy catheters”, “PEG catheters” or “enteral feeding catheters”. U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,746 for a “Low Profile Balloon Feeding Device” issued to Picha et al. on Feb. 1, 2000, provides an example of one device.
These catheters are frequently placed in a procedure called percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (frequently referred to as PEG). Traditionally, a PEG tube is placed using endoscopic guidance or x-ray guidance. In a conventional PEG procedure that places a PEG tube into a patient's stomach, an endoscope is used to observe that the patient's esophagus is unobstructed and to inspect and inflate the stomach to see that the area selected for the gastrostomy can be distended.
If the location is suitable, this spot is selected. In some types of procedures, prior to placement of any feeding tube, it has been found that it is particularly desirable to anchor the anterior wall of the gastric lumen (e.g., the stomach) to the abdominal wall as a step prior to creating the stoma tract through the two. Thus attachment has been found to be critical as it helps to prevent inadvertent separation and exposure of the peritoneal cavity to contamination and possible peritonitis. This procedure is also applicable to jejunostomy or gastro-jejunostomy as well as the gastrostomy procedure referred to above. Similar procedures may also be applicable or desirably for other catheter tubes such as peritoneal drainage tubes.
After the wall of the lumen is anchored, a needle is inserted into the patient in the area in the appropriate location. Additionally, a small incision may be made in the skin. An endoscopist will then typically watch through the endoscope as a needle pushes through the patient's skin, then through the abdominal wall, and enters the gastric lumen in the selected area to form a needle tract. A guide wire is passed through the needle into the gastric lumen (e.g., the stomach). The endoscopist will use an endoscopic snare to grasp the guide wire firmly. The snare, passed through the working channel of the endoscope, firmly grabs the guide wire. Both the endoscope and snare are then withdrawn together through the patient's mouth, pulling the guide wire with them. The end of the guide wire that extends out from the patient's mouth is subsequently attached to a PEG tube and the other end of the guide wire remains outside the patient's skin in the abdominal region.
The PEG tube is guided into the patient's mouth (while the endoscope is completely removed from the patient) and pulled into the patient's gastric lumen as the guide wire is pulled from the end that remains outside the patient's skin. Once the PEG tube is in the gastric lumen, it is pulled partially through the gastric and abdominal walls until a bumper of the PEG tube is snug against the gastric mucosa. However, in order for the PEG tube to be pulled partially through the gastric and abdominal walls and skin, the original needle tract must be dilated. This dilation is carried out with conventional dilation devices that employ a tapered dilator at the distal end of the PEG tube so that it dilates the opening as it is pulled through the gastric mucosa. During such dilation, the endoscope is again passed into the patient and subsequently used to visually observe that the bumper of the PEG tube is snug against the gastric mucosa.
In other conventional PEG tube placement procedures, endoscopy is not used at all. Instead, x-ray techniques are used to help select a particularly suitable location in the patient's body (e.g., the stomach) for the introduction of the PEG tube. X-ray is used for guiding the PEG tube placement and for inspecting the PEG tube's final position.
There are many problems associated with these conventional procedures including: increased risk of esophageal trauma associated with multiple passes of an endoscope into and out of a patient; placement of the PEG in an improper location, transit of a large catheter tube such as a PEG through the esophagus; and/or additional complications and/or trauma of anchoring the wall of the lumen to the abdomen. While avoiding these problems may be desirable, suitable devices or procedures are lacking.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device, system and method for placing a non-vascular catheter tube such as a PEG tube in a patient that reduces these risks and trauma and is easy to perform.